Manchester, N.H. (April 22) -- Led by a five-goal effort from senior Garrett Smith (East Syracuse, N.Y./East Syracuse Minoa), the Assumption College men's lacrosse team held off Saint Anselm for an 8-7 win on Wednesday night at Grappone Stadium. The win is the team's fourth straight and seventh in its last eight games.

Smith put the Hounds on the board just 5:23 into the first as he fired into the upper right corner off a pass from senior Paul Curran (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) for the man-up goal. The Hawks answered with just 21.9 seconds left in the opening quarter as Geoff Kennedy spun off a defender and fired a point-blank shot to knot the game at 1-1 after one period.

Saint Anselm opened the second quarter quickly as Ben Warren shot low for the goal, his 14th of the season, for the 2-1 edge. The teams continued to trade goals as freshman Conor Darby (Haverhill, Mass./Proctor Academy) weaved thru a pack of defenders to tie the game. Smith added his second goal of the game to tie the game at three with 7:34 on the clock as he fired from a tight angle on the right side. After James Peters put the Hawks back in front at 4-3 with 3:44 left, Smith completed the first-half hat trick with three minutes left with his 31st goal of the year and the 4-4 halftime margin.

Warren and the Hawks regained the lead just 11 seconds into the third quarter as Saint A's won the faceoff and immediately went up 5-4. That was the last time the Hounds trailed though as Darby scored an unassisted goal midway thru the half, followed by a man-up score from Smith that was assisted on by senior Peter Gersbeck (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) for the 6-5 edge after three.

In the fourth, Smith tied the Assumption career point scoring record with the 152nd point of his career for the 7-6 lead with 12:42 remaining. After the Hawks tied the game at 7-7 just 46 seconds later, senior Ty Martina (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) tallied the eventual game winner with 6:21 remaining. Martina took a pass from Darby on the right side, faked out the Hawks goalie and put home his 21st goal of the season for the 8-7 final.

The Hawks applied pressure in the final minutes, but were unable to gain possession as the Hounds ran out the clock on the one-goal victory.

Assumption was led by a five-goal performance by Smith, along with two goals and one assist from Darby and two assists from Gersbeck. Warren finished with a hat trick for the Hawks, along with two goals by Kennedy and one goal and one assist from Peters.

Senior Will Contento (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) made 16 saves in the win, while Lucas DeAngelo turned aside nine shots in the loss.

Saint Anselm held a 42-31 edge in total shots and a 34-25 advantage in ground balls. The Hounds completed 16-of-20 clear attempts successfully, converted 2-of-4 man-up chances and forced 10 Saint Anselm turnovers.

Assumption improves to 9-6 overall and 6-4 in Northeast-10 play, while Saint Anselm is now 1-11 overall and 1-9 in the league. The nine-win season ties the program's single-season record for victories, which was previously set in the 2011 season.

Assumption closes out the regular season on Saturday, April 25th as the Hounds travel to Saint Michael's for a 1 p.m. start in Colchester, Vt.

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